The present invention relates to a procedure and to an apparatus for use in the installation of an elevator.
For trouble-free operation of an elevator, it is necessary that the elevator should run along a vertical line. The elevator is normally installed in an elevator shaft built from concrete. The guide rails for the elevator car and counterweight are fixed to the shaft walls using rail fixtures. During the installation of the elevator, the guide rails and other shaft equipment are adjusted to their proper positions. In this context, shaft equipment refers to guide rails, landing doors and their mounting brackets. In the vertical direction, the alignment is effected using plumb lines, which are fixed at a point above the shaft equipment to be installed in the elevator shaft and which extend through the whole length of the shaft. It has also been suggested that the alignment could be done using a laser beam, but this method has not gained ground due to the costs and the difficult conditions at the site of installation.
In prior art, the plumb lines are fixed to the floor of a machine room above the shaft and so positioned that they can be used to align the shaft equipment, such as guide rails, and the landing doors. The ceiling of the elevator shaft must be provided with holes for the plumb lines.
The object of the present invention is to develop a new solution for plumbing the shaft equipment in an elevator shaft to their proper positions, a solution that does not require any communication with a space above the shaft and that can be implemented without working above the finished building. To achieve this, the procedure of the invention involves the steps of mounting a plumbing jig in the elevator shaft, the step of mounting being carried out from the top floor and the plumbing jig being below the top of the elevator shaft; attaching plumb lines from the plumbing jig, the plumb lines being attached from the top floor; positioning various pieces of shaft equipment using the plumb lines attached to the plumbing jig; and fixing the various pieces in place after the step of positioning. The apparatus of the invention comprises support elements fixable to the elevator shaft; a plumbing jig attachable to the support elements and mountable substantially from the top floor; plumb lines suspendable from the plumbing jig, when suspended from the plumbing jig, the plumb lines extend into the elevator shaft below the plumbing jig and are used to align at least one guide rail.
When the solution of the invention is used, all the operations required in elevator installation can be carried out from the elevator shaft or from a landing. When trimming the plumbing jig, the installers can work from a landing, so no scaffolding or temporary erecting stages are needed. The job can be performed substantially faster than before, when it was necessary to build a scaffolding for work in the elevator shaft or when the work was done from the roof and a passage to the roof had to be provided in addition to a separate connection between the elevator shaft and the space above the shaft. Now, there is no need for elevator installers to go to the roof at any stage, so this allows a clear distinction to be made between elevator installation and other construction work. In the case of an elevator without machine room, the installers can directly communicate with each other throughout the installation process.
By using the solution of the invention, the plumbing of all shaft equipment, guide rails and landing door mounting brackets can be effected with four plumb lines when a gauge is used to position the guide rails for the counterweight. This also contributes towards faster installation and, by using a suitable gauge, the guide rails can be installed so that their guide surfaces will be in correct positions relative to each other.
A frame used for the plumbing, i.e. a plumbing jig, fixes the positions of shaft equipment at their proper locations in the vertical direction. When the plumbing jig is moved horizontally during fine adjustment at the final plumbing stage, the various pieces of shaft equipment of the elevator remain in correct positions relative to each other. Thus, if the position of one of the plumb lines has to be readjusted, this can be done without separately readjusting the other plumb lines.
Further scope of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, it should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.